CoSIDA Announces 2009 Scholarship Winners
College Sports Information Directors of America
The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced the winners of their 2009 undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships on Wednesday, June 24.
The organization selected a pair of winners to receive $5,000 each toward pursuit of their postgraduate degrees, while adding two more undergraduate scholarship winners of $2,500 each.
The scholarships were formally announced during CoSIDA’s annual workshop this week in San Antonio, Texas. The Undergraduate Scholarships and Graduate Internship Grants have been awarded since 1999, when CoSIDA expanded its scholarship program in order to foster interest in the sports information field. Since presenting the first Graduate Scholarship in 1981, CoSIDA has provided more than $325,000 in grants to students working in sports information offices at member institutions and conferences.
To be eligible for either the Postgraduate or Undergraduate Scholarships, candidates must maintain a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average and express an interest in pursuing a career in sports information.
Laurie Wild, a graduate student pursuing a master of education degree in mass communication at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, earned the Wylie Smith Postgraduate Scholarship ($5,000). Wild, who earned her bachelor’s degree in communication from UNI in 2008, has worked in the Panther Media Relations Office since September of 2006. During the past season, she served as the primary media relations contact for the Panther soccer and track and field/cross country teams under the supervision of UNI Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Josh Lehman. A native of Waukon, Iowa, Wild posted a 3.60 grade-point average as an undergraduate and carries a 3.67 graduate school GPA.
The Wylie Smith Postgraduate Scholarship is named in honor of the former CoSIDA Scholarships Committee chairman and long-time Sports Information Director at Northern Arizona University.
Britney Wright, who has worked as an undergraduate student assistant in the Florida State University Sports Information Office, claimed the CoSIDA Postgraduate Scholarship ($5,000). Wright, who graduated from FSU in May, plans to pursue a master’s degree in integrated marketing communication from Florida State. She posted a 3.4 undergraduate GPA in public relations/sports management at FSU. Wright has not only worked as an undergraduate in the Florida State Sports Information Office, she has also served as a personnel assistant for the FSU Athletic Department, as an FSU facilities and event management associate, and as an ISP Sports Marketing Assistant within the Florida State Athletic Department.
CoSIDA’s Undergraduate Scholarship awards ($2,500 each) were presented to Carli Todd of the University of Tampa and David Bodman of La Salle University. Todd, who is a sport management major at Tampa, carries a 3.89 grade-point average and is on track to graduate in May of 2011.
She is is also a member of the honors program. Todd has worked in the Tampa Sports Information Office for Director Tom Kolbe since October of 2007, serving as the primary contact for baseball and men’s soccer. A native of Berea, Ky., Todd also volunteered at Eastern Kentucky in Richmond, Ky., during Christmas break in 2008-09.
Bodman carries a 3.23 GPA as a communication major with a film studies minor at La Salle with an expected graduation date of May 2011. The native of Mechanicsville, Va., has worked as a student assistant in the La Salle Sports Information Office for Director of Athletic Communications Kale Beers since November of 2007. Bodman has also served La Salle in a variety of other capacities, including assisting in athletic game-day promotions, working in the Office of Admissions, and as an assistant at the Campus Recreation Center. He was also active in La Salle’s theatre organization, The Masque of La Salle University, as a carpenter and sound technician.
In addition to the four scholarships, CoSIDA awarded the 2009 Graduate Internship Grant ($10,000) to Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio. With a department of just one full-time employee with no graduate students or student assistants, Lake Erie College will feature 20 varsity athletic teams in 2009-10, while making the transition to NCAA Division II competition.
The Graduate Internship Grant provides funds for a sports information office to hire a graduate intern on a one-year basis, hoping the success of the program can help the schools demonstrate the need for additional assistance in the future.
All-Time CoSIDA Honorees
Postgraduate Scholarship
2009 Laurie Wild, Northern Iowa / Britney Wright, Florida State
2008 Jared Verner, Northwest Missouri State / Kendra Lee, Ohio State
2007 Caroline Domecq, Georgia / Kyle Chilton, Southern Virginia
2006 Chris Yandle, Marshall / Jessica Calderone, Southeast Louisiana
2005 Michael Potter, Ball State / Erin Whiteside, Penn State
2004 Eric Braley, Northern Iowa / Kristopher Sears, Indiana
2003 Brad Fischer, Wisconsin-La Crosse / Lainie Guiddy, West Virginia
2002 Michelle Kelley, Colgate / Sean Wright, Westminster (Mo.)
2001 Brad Caudill, Eastern Michigan / Susan Seabrook, Alabama-Birmingham
2000 Mark Fratto, Maryland / Andy Knappick, Illinois State
1999 Brian Gunning, Marshall / Heidi Roth, Syracuse
1998 Chris Ambrose, Purdue / Brian Gunning, Marshall
1997 Chris Ambrose, Purdue / Jeff Griesch, Nebraska
1996 Jeff Griesch, Nebraska
1995 Stuart McFarland, Missouri / Sally Krauss, Western Kentucky
1994 Randy Hayson, Illinois State
1993 Will Roleson, Miami (Ohio)
1992 Amy Stabley, Central Michigan / Robert Hester, Northern Illinois
1991 Lana Bandy, Purdue
1990 Stephanie Grimes, Boise State
1989 Beth Haag, Iowa State
1988 Angela Hultman, Mankato State
1987 Chris McMurry, Northern Arizona
1986 Mark Berger, Ohio
1985 Brian Teter, Illinois State
1984 Jonathan Dukes, Georgia Southern
1983 Jay Hill, Michigan
1982 John Lashway, Oregon
1981 Craig Bohnert, Evansville
Undergraduate Scholarship
2009 Carli Todd, Tampa / David Bodman, La Salle
2008 Andrew Middleman, Baldwin-Wallace / Kevin Flora, University of the Cumberlands
2007 Caleb Hawley, Oregon State / Christina Marshall, James Madison
2006 Todd Zeidler, Bemidji / Amy Robertson, Mississippi State
2005 John Vogel, Youngstown State / Monique Bowman, Capital University
2004 Cassie Chance, Mississippi State / Nick Kiger, Colorado State
2003 Kimberly Gray Folkes, Virginia Tech / Adam Holtz, Bethany Lutheran / Laura Schoenberger, Pittsburg State
2002 Branie Davidson, Northwest Missouri State / Shante Gree, Fayetteville State / Teri LaJeunesse, Michigan Tech
2001 Bobbie Horstman, Iowa State / Shayla Reiff, Mt. Vernon Nazarene / Dustin Roberts, Oklahoma
2000 Daniel Dykstra, Wheaton (Ill.) / Kimberly Frederick, Manhattan / Bobbie Horstman, Iowa State
1999 Kate Adams, Iowa State / Michelle La Scola, Northern Illinois / Casey Taylor, Christopher Newport
Graduate Internship Grant
2009 Lake Erie College
2008 Grand Canyon University
2007 Central College of Iowa
2006 Bellarmine 2005 Wesleyan University
2004 Carroll College
2003 St. Francis (N.Y.), Tennessee Tech
2002 Eckerd College, Hardin-Simmons
2001 Central State (Ohio), Cheyney
2000 Central Oklahoma, Urbana (Ohio)
1999 Alabama A&M, Wright State